A Beautiful Lie
by Jenn1984
Summary: The world as Henry Spencer knew it just came crashing down around him. But as the saying goes, things aren't always what they seem. Character death.
1. Chapter 1

I wrote this a long time ago, posted it, then took it down. I'm editing it. We'll see how it goes :)

Disclaimer: I own nada.

Enjoy the prologue :P

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One man cannot single-handedly prevent the end of the world. Henry Spencer had tried, and he had tried _hard, _but there were some things that just weren't meant to be.

If someone had asked him a week ago whether or not the world would come to an end, Henry would have told them to spend more time thinking about life. Death was something common in his line of work and he would rather spend his free time with thoughts about fishing, cooking, or anything else he had some control over.

And if someone had come up to Henry and told him that within a week's time the world would end, he would have completely disregarded the statement. The end of the world was a topic of conversation for hippies and religious fanatics and he simply didn't have time for all that nonsense.

Funny, though, how the world _did_ come to an end within that week, in the middle of the night when Henry was sleeping soundly. A phone call had knocked the wind right out of him, informing him the world had come to a horrible, bitter end.

A phone call informed him that his son was dead.


	2. Chapter 2

By the way, friends, this takes place around season 1-2. Enjoy.

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Henry sat on the cold, hard steps of the SBPD and twirled his cell phone between his fingers.

After the phone call that had ended the world, Henry had rushed down to the station with the idea that he would prove everyone wrong. His son wasn't dead, _couldn't be _dead, because he would have known; he would have felt it somehow.

The air was stale when he walked through the doors, hitting him like a sledgehammer. Taking in a thick, sharp breath, Henry stormed down the hall and into Karen's office.

"Prove it," he had demanded. "Show me his body. I want to see it."

"Henry, please," Karen said softly, unable to look him in the eye.

Henry raised his voice. "No, I told you. I _told_ _you_ to leave him out of it!"

"Henry-"

"You can't keep me from seeing my own son!"

Karen's voice had raised to match his. "His body was burned, Henry! Beyond recognition!" She picked up a small envelope and handed it to him. "Forensics recovered this."

Bile had risen into Henry's throat when he pulled the silver chain Shawn's mother had given him out of the envelope. It was the same chain Shawn never took off.

_The decision Henry had come to was simple: Shawn couldn't possibly be his son. _

_It was a valid thought, Henry mused as he turned the wheel of his truck, because Shawn was nothing like him. He was sure his real son was out there somewhere, cleaning his father's attic when he says he will instead of coming up with excuses that involved roller hockey and cross dressers. _

_When he pulled up to the Psych office, Henry let out a deep sigh to relieve some of the anger that had settled in the pit of his stomach. Without bothering to knock, he pushed open the door and stepped inside, expecting to be greeted by the blaring television, or Shawn bickering with his best friend, Gus._

_Instead he was greeted with silence._

_"Shawn?" Henry called out tentatively, peeking through the doorway toward his son's desk. Shawn was in his chair, pouring over a stack of papers and photos which threatened to spill onto the floor at any moment._

_"Shawn, I've been trying to call you all morning," Henry said while glancing at a photo on the desk of a bloody roller skate._

_"Sorry Dad, been kinda busy," Shawn replied. He leaned closer and squinted at one of the photos._

_Henry rolled his eyes. "Not this crap about cross dressers again," he grumbled. Shawn popped up from his hunched position and grabbed a photo off his desk, thrusting it under his father's nose._

_"It's not crap, this is a real case!" he exclaimed, pointing to the deceased in roller skates. "One of the Conquering Cross Dressers was murdered yesterday in his-I mean _her_-locker room." A stack of papers lost their fight to stay on Shawn's desk when he grabbed another photo and scattered onto the floor. "Gus thinks the Chain Gang are responsible, what with all the leather and bad attitudes, but I've got my eye on the team of nuns. That slogan, 'Rolling for Redemption'? It just screams guilty!"_

_Wiping a hand down the side of his face, Henry sighed. "Shawn," he began, "I'm not here to talk about your case. I'm here because you blew me off, once again. You promised you would get that junk out of my attic." He watched his son fall ungracefully back into his seat._

_"Now just isn't a good time, Dad!" Shawn whined, sparking Henry's temper._

_"It's never a good time! There's always an excuse with you! Take some responsibility, Shawn, and when you-" He stopped mid sentence when the office door opened and a woman dressed in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt stepped inside. A large pair of sunglasses also helped conceal part of her face._

_Shawn stood to greet her. "May I help you, ma'am?"_

_The woman pulled down her hood and pushed her sunglasses on top of her head. "Don't call me ma'am, Mr. Spencer," Chief Karen Vick said, folding her arms across her chest._

_Henry felt a small pang in his stomach, as if someone had just squeezed it; she obviously didn't want anyone to know she was there, and that was never a good sign._

_"Whoa, what's with the getup, Chief?" Shawn questioned , grinning._

_Karen quickly glanced around the office to make sure they were alone, then focused back on Shawn. "Where's Mr. Guster?"_

_"Out of town for a couple of days," Shawn said with a wave is his hand. "Something about his little side project he so adamantly refers to as his 'real job'."_

_"Good," Karen muttered. She slid quickly to the front window and pulled down the blinds. The imaginary grip on Henry's stomach tightened._

_"What's going on, Karen?" He asked, suspicious._

_Karen narrowed her eyes. "I don't think you should be here, Henry." Her tone was forceful. Shawn raised his eyebrows._

_Anger swelled up inside Henry's throat. "I'm not going anywhere." The two glared at each other before he repeated, "I'm not going anywhere, Karen."_

_Karen shook her head. "I know you're not." She hesitated, then continued. "What I say doesn't leave this office. You tell no one, and that includes Mr. Guster. Do I make myself clear?"_

_"Painfully," Shawn said with a smirk. Karen eyed him intently for a moment but her shoulders soon dropped forward Henry's stomach clenched once again at the sight of deep worry lines between her eyes._

_"I need a favor, Mr. Spencer." Karen's voice had an air of tiredness to it. "It's a huge, risky favor. You've heard about Los Caballeros, I assume?"_

_And suddenly Henry's throat ran dry._

_"Yeah, they were all over the news back when I was in high school," Shawn answered casually. "Weren't you on that case, Dad? The gang that killed all those undercover cops? I thought you took them down."_

_Henry gave Karen a hard look while she avoided eye contact with him._

_"We thought they were gone, but we were wrong." Karen stepped closer to Shawn. "This has been out of the news for a while now, but people are starting to wonder. I've lost two men in the past four months and we can't keep hiding who are really responsible."_

_"Why are you telling me all this?"_

_"Shawn, listen to me." Shawn looked surprised at the use of his first name. "Los Caballeros has been getting stronger and more deadly over the past year. __They're recruiting more kids than we have man power to deal with. The drugs are becoming more prominent, and they've murdered too many of my officers." She paused to look him straight in the eye. "I'm asking you, if you're willing, to go undercover."_

_The hold on Henry's stomach lifted and he finally found his voice. "No, Karen."_

_"Dad, let her finish," Shawn said, annoyed._

_"No, Shawn, you're not taking this case." Henry whirled around and pointed his finger at Karen. "He's not taking this case."_

_"Henry-"_

_"I don't want him on this!" Henry growled, taking a protective step in front of Shawn._

_Karen raised herself up to her full height. "I don't believe that's your decision," she snapped, placing her hands carefully onto her hips._

_"It's no one's choice, because it's not happening," Henry snarled. "He's not qualified. He's not a cop!"_

Karen walked up to the former detective until the two were almost nose to nose. "That's what makes him an ideal choice, Henry. He knows procedure, but he won't be recognized!"

_"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Shawn called out suddenly._

_"No!"_

_"Yes!"_

_"Shawn," Henry said sternly, but Shawn silenced him with a shake of his head._

_"No, Dad, you're done. I'll decide for myself which cases to take." Before Henry could argue further, Shawn turned to Karen and said, "I'll be at the station in an hour. What do you want me to do?"_

_Henry was thrown by the sudden seriousness in Shawn's tone and watched as Karen replaced her sunglasses over her eyes._

_"The folder is on my desk. Come in, grab it, leave the station. Everything you need will be in that folder." And with that, she swiftly exited the office._

_Thoughts swirled viciously around in Henry's mind as he stood there watching Shawn replace photos in a large folder. "You're not trained for this. I don't know what she was thinking, putting you in this position."_

_"Dad, you don't really have a say in this." Shawn dropped the folder into his top drawer and slammed it shut._

_Henry fired back. "This is too dangerous for you, kid, what don't you understand about that? These people will kill you!"_

_"And that's a risk I'm willing to take," Shawn said, continuing to put stacks of papers into their respective folders. Henry reached over and pulled them out of Shawn's hands, gaining an angry look in response as well as his son's full attention._

_"It's not worth it, Shawn."_

_Shawn laughed humorlessly and squeezed the back of his neck. "Don't pretend like you give a damn what I do."_

_The words burned through Henry. "You think you know everything, don't you, pal?"_

_With his desk finally cleared, Shawn grabbed his cell phone and turned to his father._

_"I'm taking the case."_


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry my updates are taking so long. I've recently discovered the show, _Merlin,_ and now all my free time is spent obsessing over Colin Morgan's eyes. *sigh* But I'm still working on this story, don't worry. It's just taking me some time to edit.

Hope you enjoy.

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Leaves scraped along the asphalt like fingernails along a chalkboard as Henry sat in silence against the cool metal of his truck. His phone lay in pieces beside him, having thrown it into the door after he had hung up with Maddie. She had taken the news as well as he had expected, though he hadn't actually expected to have this conversation with her. Maybe in his worst nightmares, but he had done his best to make sure those nightmares wouldn't come true.

"Not good enough, old man," he breathed to himself as a tremor rose from his feet to his shoulders.

The breeze died down, halting the leaves and other sounds for a few moments. In that quiet state, Henry slipped into uneasy memories.

_He grabbed Henry's arm, roughly pulling him over to a booth in the corner of the diner. "What the hell, Shawn!" Henry cried, yanking his arm out of his son's grasp. Shawn shushed him and ducked into the booth, lifting his collar higher until it touched his cheeks. Henry eased into the seat across from him and crossed his arms._

_"Don't make a scene, Dad," Shawn hissed, pretending to scratch his cheek while glancing over his shoulder. "I don't want them to know I'm here."_

_Henry raised an eyebrow. "Them?" he asked suspiciously._

_Shawn cleared his throat and pulled his hat down further. "Yes, Dad. _Them_. You know," he said, waving his hand through the air in an irritated manner._

_"The same 'them' I told you to stay away from?" Henry grumbled angrily. Shawn threw his head back and let out a silent scream._

_"Can we not do this now? Please?" Shawn folded his arms on the table and laid his head into them._

_Henry couldn't keep his voice from rising. "Oh, and when would you prefer we have this conversation? After you get yourself killed?"_

_"Preferably."_

_"Shawn!"_

_"What!" Shawn yelled. He realized they were causing a scene and added quietly, "What do you want me to say, Dad? What do you want me to do?" He took off his sunglasses and eyed his father curiously._

_Henry placed his hands firmly on the table and leaned in, returning his son's gaze. "I want you to get out." They stared at one another for a long moment before Shawn began to laugh, though Henry didn't find the humor in his statement._

_"You're unbelievable," Shawn scoffed, wiping his hand across his mouth._

_"_I'm _unbelievable? Shawn, these people kill without a second thought. What makes you think they won't kill _you_?"_

_"Who says I think they're _not _trying to kill me?"_

_Henry looked at his son warily. "Shawn, what's going on?" _

_Shawn sighed and leaned his head back against his seat. "A few of the guys don't trust me."_

_"And you're surprised?"Henry asked._

_"No, Dad! Would you just listen to me?" Henry reluctantly closed his mouth and gestured for him to continue. "They're following me. I think they suspect I'm working for the cops."_

_Henry narrowed his eyes. "Why do you think that?"_

_"I heard the end of a conversation last night. Something about the cops, and my they said my name." Shawn sank further into his seat, avoiding eye contact with him._

_"Shawn," Henry began, trying to catch his son's gaze. "Shawn, look at me." With a loud sigh, Shawn slowly picked his head up to look at Henry. "Get out, kid. Now."_

_"I can't!" Shawn cried. "I'm _this_ close," he held up his thumb and forefinger an inch apart, "to getting the info we need to bring them down."_

_Henry pounded his fist onto the table, gaining a few nervous glances from around the diner. "I don't care how close you are!" he roared as he rose from his seat. Shawn took in a sharp breath and held his hands up, motioning for Henry to sit back down._

_"Seriously, don't make such a scene!" he pleaded, casting a nervous glance out the glass windows that lined the diner walls. "I've got it under control."_

_"Yeah, because this whole conversation has convinced me that you have everything under control," Henry mocked, lowering himself back into his seat._

_Shawn pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dude, Dad, don't have a cow. All I wanted was a little advice."_

_"Ha," Henry spat, "a little advice? I've got some advice for you, pal. Don't come crawling to me when you dig yourself into a hole so deep you can't find your way out."_

_They sat in silence for a moment before Shawn placed his sunglasses back over his eyes. "First of all, how could I come crawling to you if I were stuck in a hole? I would totally dig my way over to Gus first." He stood up, taking a step towards the door and paused only to add, "And second, thanks _again_, Dad. For absolutely _nothing_."_

"You threw him in there and you knew he wasn't trained for it."

Henry's voice was raspy and thick inside his throat as Karen sat down beside him in the parking lot. The breeze picked up again and the two sat in silence before Karen finally spoke. "I'm sorry, Henry."

Anger bubbled inside his stomach and struck every nerve inside his already shaking arms and legs, even though he could hear the sincerity in her words. "This is your fault. You killed him."

Karen placed her hand on Henry's shoulder and they sat there under the soft yellow glow of the street light outside the station. He wanted to shake her off, push her away, but he was tired. A hole had formed inside him now, growing with each intake of breath, and he was just _so tired_.

And finally it hit him; he was never going to see his son again.


	4. Chapter 4

I know, I took forever to post this. Blame Patster223, she got me into Merlin. It's all her fault.

-hugs Pat-

Disclaimer: I do not own Psych.

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_Henry sat at his kitchen table, absently shaking his coffee mug so the contents inside swirled around. Shawn sat opposite him with his eyes on his plate of eggs, poking at them with his fork but never actually eating them._

_Shawn had just confessed that he had no intentions of joining the academy. For the past three years, though he hated to admit it, Henry had been waiting for this confession._

_"Well this gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'awkward silence'," Shawn joked, pushing his eggs from one side of his plate to the other. He lifted his head and looked at Henry._

_Henry felt himself unable to form coherent enough sentences, so he just stared back at Shawn while pushing down the sick feeling that rose into his throat._

_Shawn furrowed his eyebrows. "So are you going to say anything?" he asked with a hint of annoyance. The smugness of his sentence was enough to make Henry snap._

_"What do you expect me to say, Shawn? 'Good for you'?" Henry slammed his cup onto the table, splashing himself with cold coffee. "Am I supposed to congratulate you on ruining your future?"_

_Shawn laughed. "Now there's the Henry Spencer I know! You had me worried!"_

_"Don't start with me, Shawn, this isn't a joke," Henry growled, narrowing his eyes. "You're just going to throw your life away? And all for what, just to spite your old man? To prove some idiotic point? How _noble_ of you."_

_"We'll have the disappointment lecture right after this commercial break!" Shawn shouted sarcastically, grabbing his plate and shoving it into the sink behind his seat._

_"Cut the crap, pal," Henry said with a twitch of his finger. "When are you gonna learn to grow up? You can't just laugh everything off!"_

_Shawn whirled around and threw his hands in the air. "And when are __you gonna learn to _lighten_ up?"_

_Sighing heavily, Henry sat and stared at his son's innocent face. Shawn had no idea what it was like out in the real world and without college or the academy, what was he going to do? He lifted his coffee cup off the table and rose from his seat. He was getting too old for this._

_"You know what, Shawn?" he said, voice quiet. "Do whatever the hell you want. Just don't come crying to me when you screw up." He threw his mug into the sink with a loud bang and left the house without looking back._

**-ooo- **

Henry swirled the coffee around in his mug while staring at the empty chair across from him, going over every detail of the day Shawn admitted he wasn't going to become a cop. He remembered every word, every facial expression, every feeling from that conversation and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

If only Shawn had listened. The academy would have trained him for something like this, would have prepared him in case something went wrong. Shawn had known cop procedure, but he hadn't been a cop. Henry should have pushed harder, he should have held on tighter. Or maybe he should have told the truth about Shawn's "abilities." He should have done all of these things to protect Shawn.

_What if, should have, maybe_. They meant nothing now that his son was gone.

What kind of a father had he been? How could he had let this happen?

The phone rang, making Henry jump out of his chair. A conversation was the last thing he wanted to engage in right now as he stared at the caller ID and swallowed hard.

"Madeline," he answered, barely able to get her name out of his mouth.

There was silence for a moment._ "The plane gets in around seven. I'll be at the house soon after that."_ Her voice seemed steady, but Henry knew her better than that. He wasn't sure how he was going to keep himself composed after finally seeing her when she arrived.

"I'll see you sometime after seven, then."

They hung up without saying goodbye and Henry was grateful that she didn't want to speak any longer than they had. Coherent sentences were hard to come by lately.

Henry lost himself in painful memories once again before the phone rang a second time. He considered not answering, but he pressed the talk button anyway.

"Hello," he said dully.

Static.

"Hello? Who the hell is this?" he asked sharply. He didn't have time for ridiculous pranks. "Hello?"

Even through the static, Henry recognized the voice on the other line and it nearly made his heart stop.

_"Hi, Dad."_

_

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All comments are appreciated._  
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